Friendship Village Senior Services’ Update and Response to COVID-19 as of Friday, November 20th, 2020
Dear Friends, Residents and Families of Friendship Village:
Fall is in the air, most of the leaves are down and Thanksgiving is on the horizon at Friendship Villages on this Friday, November 20th, 2020.
Our wrestling match against COVID-19 continues as the entire region experiences the effects of the surge in coronavirus cases.
As noted in the previous update, St. Louis County is under a “Safe at Home” order that asks residents do their best to self-quarantine and to only make necessary, essential trips away from home.
In support of the County directive and to help reduce the risk of further introducing COVID-19 to the residents and staff of our campuses, Friendship Villages in Chesterfield and Sunset Hills remains under a No Visitor Policy that prohibits all visitors from entering the campus unless to make deliveries or as an approved caregiver.
FRIENDSHIP VILLAGE VISITOR POLICY
In an effort to combat the swell of COVID-19 currently occurring in the surrounding communities and at Friendship Villages, and in support of St. Louis County restrictions, the following measures are effective immediately:
No visitors are permitted on campus for Independent Living residents until further notice:
- All entrants to the campus will be met by courteous security personnel.
- No visitors to Independent Living residents will be permitted to enter.
- Those wishing to drop-off packages for Independent Living and Care Center residents will be permitted to do so at a central location.
- Those wishing to drop-off packages for Assisted Living and Memory Care will be screened and permitted to proceed to that facility to do so.
- Essential workers and caregivers will be permitted to enter the building through the Clubhouse entrance. Contract and personal caregivers must be on an approved list through the Care Navigator. If not on the list, security personnel will be able to assist in making contact.
- Residents are strongly encouraged to remain on campus and to only leave campus for essential trips for medical appointments or critical supplies. This includes visits to families for Thanksgiving. Such visits are not prohibited, but strongly discouraged in the interest of minimizing exposure to COVID-19 and bringing it back to the Village.
- The Village can assist in acquiring essential supplies. Please contact the Concierge.
- At SUNSET HILLS, residents are under voluntary self-quarantine in their living quarters that began on November 18th. This action is intended to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 that is present on campus.
- At CHESTERFIELD, there is no current request for voluntary self-quarantine, but residents are highly discouraged from any in-unit visiting and any physical contact. Wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing is always the order of the day.
- Families of residents in the Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing facilities must adhere to policies established by those facilities. Please contact the appropriate facility for details.
Friendship Village in Chesterfield:
- As of this date, there are no residents in the Skilled Nursing facility who are positive for COVID-19.
- Independent Living has no active cases of COVID-19 though a few residents are under quarantine for exposure to a known positive.
- Assisted Living currently has no confirmed positive cases of COVID-19, for which we are thankful.
Friendship Village in Sunset Hills is experiencing a recent swell in COVID activity on campus:
- The Skilled Nursing facility currently has multiple residents who have tested positive for COVID-19. Two residents have required hospitalization. One is soon to return to the Village after what appears to be successful treatment with Remdesivir. The other is not doing so well and we pray strongly for their return to health. Another, who is not hospitalized, is struggling. Most others seem to be doing okay, relatively, as the staff continues to work hard to maintain their health. We pray for their rapid recovery.
- Independent Living also has multiple residents who are positive for COVID-19 or have been exposed to someone who has tested positive or have recently been in a hospital or have symptoms consistent with COVID-19/cold/flu and have not tested. All Independent Living residents are currently under voluntary self-quarantine for two weeks in the effort to isolate the virus and let it burn itself out.
- Assisted Living currently has a single case of COVID-19 and the staff is working aggressively to provide them the best care possible and to protect all others.
There are multiple employees across both Villages who are under quarantine in their homes due to either having a positive test result or having had exposure to a known positive. Some will return to work soon to resume their mission.
We are saddened by the condition in which we find ourselves and we understand the concern, discomfort, and anxiety this situation causes our residents, their families, and our employees. This is a situation that none of us would like to have disrupt our lives. We continue to do all we can to keep our residents safe and yet comfortable and well-cared-for while our teams work selflessly on plans to bring as much of the holiday spirit to our residents as possible during this time. We appreciate your understanding while we work to tamp down COVID-19.
Please pray with us as we continue our fight to protect our residents and staff. It’s a fight worthy of the best we can give.
The Lord is with us.